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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23472670">Right Place, Wrong Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarmeadow/pseuds/stellarmeadow'>stellarmeadow</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Right Place, Wrong Time [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Coda, M/M, Pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 06:34:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,112</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23472670</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarmeadow/pseuds/stellarmeadow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Buck closed the door behind Carla, resting his hand against the wood for a moment before he turned to look around the apartment.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Right Place, Wrong Time [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710586</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>399</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Yeah, I'm not sure how I wound up here, but I know it was @tarialdarion's fault. All her fault. </p><p>First 9-1-1 fic for me, more of a ficlet, but I'm only through ep 2x07 in my binge and just really felt the need to write this tonight. If you haven't read my stuff before, hi! Nice to meet you! Say hi and let me know if you like this? Thanks!</p><p>PS - ALL. @TARIALDARION'S. FAULT.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Buck closed the door behind Carla, resting his hand against the wood for a moment before he turned to look around the apartment. </p><p>There were faint memories of Maddie all over— eating, drinking, all the while looking concerned for him when she wasn’t looking haunted by all the things she still hadn’t said about why she left Pennsylvania.</p><p>Eddie had left his own imprint on the place as well. Watching TV, getting so annoyed at Buck’s talking through a movie Eddie considered a classic that Buck had been digging popcorn out his shirt for hours and the sofa cushions for months after being pelted.</p><p>And then there was the first sign of relief, of hope, on Eddie’s face when met Carla. Buck had saved a lot of lives, but somehow that moment was bigger than all those rescues combined. </p><p>What he couldn’t really see anymore was Abby. </p><p>The place was hers—he hadn’t changed anything. But it was like she had never been there. Her impact on him, on who he had become, had never left his heart. But for the first time she really felt gone. </p><p>The letter was easier to write than it should have been. So was leaving it there and walking out the door. Knowing where to go next was pure instinct. </p><p>The brightest memory in the apartment had been Eddie. So maybe it was time to follow that light. </p><p>The drive to Eddie’s house was easy, until he was a few houses away and pulled over. Instinct was all well and good, but when it met the need for actual words, that could be a problem. He couldn’t just knock on the door and say, “Hi, so, I was living at my girlfriend’s house and all I could really see was you, can you explain why?”</p><p>Then again, if anyone could explain that about him, it would be Eddie.</p><p>As Buck reached for the keys, a car pulled up to Eddie’s. The driver, a woman with long dark hair, got out as Eddie appeared, meeting her halfway down the walk. They leaned in, the kiss tentative, but not new. </p><p>Definitely not new. </p><p>Buck waited until they went inside before he started the jeep and drove away.</p><p>***</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The second the kid was subdued, Eddie sprang into action, almost on autopilot, focusing on the training, on every time he’d used his skills to heal someone, no matter who it was.</p><p>That the hand he held, the pulse he checked both belonged to Buck, that was something to think about later.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So I <b>thought</b> this was done. Apparently not. </p><p>Thanks so much for all the kudos and the comments from the first part - always a bit nerve wracking posting in a new fandom, so thanks for making me feel welcome! :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He was used to the chaos of tragic scenes. To the overwhelming noise he’d learned to dial down in Afghanistan, before even becoming a firefighter. </p><p>But the absolute silence in his head since the smoke cleared enough to see Buck trapped under the truck was new.</p><p>Only years of training ingrained into his DNA kept him from running out there. Because, hey, kid with a bomb, and one bomb had already done enough damage. </p><p>Eddie barely tracked on whatever story was playing out with the kid. His eyes were fixed on Buck, with only peripheral awareness of the surroundings. Just enough to be able to gauge when he’d be able to run in there and help, every muscle tight and ready to sprint. </p><p>The second the kid was subdued, Eddie sprang into action, almost on autopilot, focusing on the training, on every time he’d used his skills to heal someone, no matter who it was.</p><p>That the hand he held, the pulse he checked both belonged to Buck, that was something to think about later. </p><p>When the truck finally started to lift, he pulled so hard he worried it might dislocate Buck’s arm, but better that than…</p><p>Than nothing. Buck was getting out of this, and that was that.</p><p>The silence in his head seemed almost mocking.</p><p>He was about to go see if adding himself to the human truck jacks would help when people swarmed his vision. Eddie braced himself for some kind of attack, but instead the truck miraculously began to lift higher.</p><p>He pulled, and Buck slid this time, freed from a 50-ton metal deathtrap.</p><p>Buck’s scream pierced the silence in Eddie’s head, but he welcomed the pain, the anguish he could feel in the sound.</p><p>Pain and anguish was life.</p><p>***</p><p>Eddie sipped at his coffee before making a face and putting it aside. The only thing worse than hospital coffee was cold hospital coffee. </p><p>The doctor had said he didn’t know how long Buck’s surgery was going to take, but it felt like a long time, long enough for him to wish half the 118 would fall asleep and cut out the noise that buzzed in the background like a hornets’ nest. </p><p>The waiting room chairs weren’t any more comfortable than the coffee was tasty. That he had enough experience sitting in them lately to know the least uncomfortable way to fold his body into one didn’t really help.</p><p>He’d spent all night in one when Chim had been stabbed. Of course, the next morning Shannon had brought food and, more importantly, Christopher.</p><p>But Christopher didn’t need to be anywhere near this tonight, not until they knew Buck would be okay. After Shannon, the last thing Christopher needed was to worry about losing Buck, too.</p><p>At least Chris had been spared his parents divorcing first. </p><p>Though if Shannon had lived through the accident, maybe they could have found a way to make it work. Maybe it would’ve brought them closer together. Made them a family. </p><p>The doctor Eddie vaguely recognized from the five minutes he’d seen Buck before they’d whisked him back rounded the corner. “He’s out of surgery,” the man said, a hint of a smile that gave Eddie more hope than just the words. “He has a nice, new titanium rod and four screws, but he should heal over time.”</p><p>The 118’s questions became background noise against the rush of relief as Eddie sagged into the chair. While the doctor had been optimistic going into surgery, a million things could go wrong in even the simplest of operations. </p><p>If Eddie had learned anything from the stupid lawsuit, it was that a Buck shaped hole in his life was a lot larger than one 6’2” body.</p><p>Maybe, just maybe, things wouldn’t have worked out with Shannon in the long run after all, not with Buck around.</p><p>***</p><p>It’s not like he circled the date Buck was getting out of the hospital on his calendar, but Eddie made sure to leave extra early for his daily visit so he could offer Buck a ride home and some help getting set up before Eddie had to leave for his shift. </p><p>Eddie had just reached Buck’s door when he heard a female voice from inside the room. He stopped, listening. Not Maddie, and not Carla. </p><p>“I’m almost done packing up—how you managed to accumulate this much stuff in a short hospital stay is beyond me.”</p><p>“What can I say, Ali? I’m a popular guy.”</p><p>Oh. Ali.</p><p>Buck had mentioned her visits, but Eddie had somehow managed to drop in when she wasn’t there. But apparently things were going quite well if she was packing up for him. </p><p>“I think that’s everything,” Ali said. “As soon as the doctor signs off, we can get you home, where I am not letting you out of my sight the entire weekend.”</p><p>Eddie turned and walked away without interrupting.  </p><p>***</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Something shifts in Buck’s face, about ten expressions flying by way too fast for Eddie to catch, and yet the combination has Eddie’s lungs sitting a little higher in his chest. It’s not the first time, and it’s a dance that Eddie is growing tired of.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well that escalated quickly. What started as a general audience 300+ word one shot ended up being a 3-chapter, 3,000+ word explicit story. </p><p>I'd like to <strike>blame</strike> thank @tarialdarion for dragging me into this, and for the encouragement and for making sure that Buck wasn't screwing himself (though he would, I'm sure) through my inability to get names right anymore. And @nihilvanum for the inspiration and encouragement as well. :)  </p><p>Hope you enjoy - please let me know if you do? Thanks! :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They stayed at the skate park until the sun was almost gone before heading back to Eddie’s with pizza. Eddie walked Carla out, locking the door behind her. He paused at the door to the living room, taking in the way Buck looked down at Chris with this sense of wonder that always made Eddie feel a little lopsided. Eddie pulled out his phone, unable to resist snapping a picture before he moved back to the couch. </p><p>“Here,” Eddie said, “I’ll take him and put him in his bed.” </p><p>He leaned down, inhaling that scent that was undeniably Buck—even when they were both covered in soot and smoke, Eddie could still smell it. Chris was a comfortable, familiar weight in his arms as Eddie carried him to his room and placed him carefully in bed. </p><p>“Buenos noches, mi hijo,” Eddie whispered before he closed the door softly behind him. </p><p>Buck looked up from his phone as Eddie dropped back down onto the couch. “Did he wake up?”</p><p>Eddie shook his head. “He was sleeping so hard I doubt he even moves the rest of the night.” </p><p>“Yeah, he sleeps like a log—unlike his old man, who would wake up if a fly landed ten feet away.”</p><p>Eddie rolled his eyes. “At the firehouse, sure, and if anything happens with Chris. Otherwise, you have to pry me out of bed.”</p><p>Something shifted in Buck’s face, about ten expressions flying by way too fast for Eddie to catch, and yet the combination had Eddie’s lungs sitting a little higher in his chest. It wasn't the first time, and it was a dance that Eddie was growing tired of.</p><p>“Buck—”</p><p>Buck cuts him off. “So Carla says Chris’s English teacher is pretty hot?”</p><p>Talk about conversational whiplash. “Carla said she was hot?” </p><p>“Well, that wasn’t the word she used, but more or less, yeah.”</p><p>Eddie shrugged. “She is,” he said. “And she had a lot of nice things to say about Chris. But….”</p><p>Buck leaned in, his voice suddenly a little deeper. “But?”</p><p>“She looks at him and sees his limitations,” Eddie said slowly. “She wants him to move right on to something else and just cross anything she thinks he can’t do off the list.”</p><p>“Clearly she doesn’t know Chris.”</p><p>Eddie laughed. “See, that’s the thing. She sees what he can’t do. And you…you see how he can. Like today.” Eddie fiddled with the edge of his shirt tail before glancing up at Buck through his lashes. “Thank you for being there.”</p><p>“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t have missed that for the world.”</p><p>“Not just today. You’re always there.”</p><p>Buck looked slightly pained. “Not always.”</p><p>“Would you let that go already? Just let it go. If something had happened to Chris or to me, you’d have been right there, lawsuit or no lawsuit.”</p><p>“But it did – you were hurting. And I wasn’t there.”</p><p>“Because I didn’t want anyone to know about it. And if you had, no lawsuit would have stopped you from being there for me.” </p><p>It wasn’t a question, but Buck still looked uncertain. “It wouldn’t have,” he said after a moment, the words quiet, but fierce all the same. “There is no chance of anything stopping me from being there if you need me.”</p><p>Buck swallowed tightly, his Adam’s apple bobbing along with it, one of those ordinary movements that seem extraordinary when Buck does them. Without thought, Eddie’s fingers traced the sharp edge down the middle of Buck’s throat, feeling the cartilage move as Buck swallows again. </p><p>The twitch of a muscle in Buck’s jaw pulled Eddie’s focus. He grazed his fingertips over that, too, felt it flutter like a butterfly trapped under Buck’s skin. Buck’s mouth dropped open, his tongue snaking out to wet his lips before it darted back in again. </p><p>Eddie leaned in to chase it, coming to his senses just long enough to meet Buck’s eyes, a little blurry this close. “Now’s your chance,” Eddie said.</p><p>“Chance?”</p><p>The word was barely more than a breath. “To stop me.”</p><p>One corner of Buck’s mouth slowly quirked up, that half smile that had been making Eddie’s heart race for far too long. “There’s no chance of that, either.”</p><p>Buck met him halfway, the first kiss tentative, testing. But tentative quickly gave way to an unspoken challenge to see who could get their tongue farther down who’s throat, and if Buck could actually crawl into Eddie’s skin if he just straddled Eddie’s lap and pressed in hard enough. </p><p>Responsibility poked through the fog in Eddie’s brain just enough for him to push Buck away. “Buck,” he tried, but Buck just pressed in, capturing Eddie’s lips again. “Buck, wait,” Eddie said between kisses. “Hey, Christopher—”</p><p>At that Buck pulled away, looking over his shoulder as he clambered off Eddie’s lap so fast Buck fell in the floor. “I thought you said Chris was there,” Buck said, turning the angry puppy glare that Eddie adored on him. </p><p>The fact that Eddie was still laughing at Buck falling in the floor only increased the depth of the glare. “No, sorry,” Eddie said, trying to catch his breath. “I was going to say Christopher might wake up.”</p><p>“Oh, thank God.” Buck flopped back onto the floor, eyes closed, breathing hard. “I was not looking forward to leaving you here to explain that to him by yourself.” </p><p>“What happened to always being here when I need you?”</p><p>“That was before you dropped me in the floor, asshole.”</p><p>Which set Eddie off into laughter again. “Here,” he said after a moment, holding out a hand, “let me make it up to you.”</p><p>Buck eyed him suspiciously, but he took the hand and let Eddie help him to his feet. “How?”</p><p>Eddie leaned in until his lips were brushing Buck’s ear. “With the best blow job you’ve ever had,” he whispered.</p><p>Buck’s whole body shivered against Eddie’s. “But you said,” Buck pulled back, confused puppy face in place, so at odds with the lust still lurking behind it that Eddie almost started laughing again, “you said Christopher might wake up.” </p><p>“Right, and I didn’t want him finding us naked in the middle of the living room,” Eddie said. “So let’s go take this behind a locked door, okay?”</p><p>“Right,” Buck said. “Right. Excellent idea.” </p><p>They managed to make it past Christopher’s door and down the hall quietly enough. Eddie closed the door behind them and locked it, barely managing to turn around before Buck had him pressed up against the door, his tongue trying to find Eddie’s tonsils. </p><p>By the time Eddie got free, his t-shirt was off one arm, Buck’s shirt was completely gone and his pants were hanging off his hips. Which…. “Fuck,” Eddie said, turning the word into two syllables as he stared at said hips. </p><p>“Later,” Buck said, pulling Eddie toward the bed. “First, I seem to remember something about a blow—”</p><p>Buck’s jeans slipped down, tripping him up just before he made it to the bed. He fell back onto the mattress laughing. “So much for quiet,” he said when he’d caught his breath.</p><p>“Chris will likely sleep through the night as long as we don’t start banging the headboard against the wall.” </p><p>Buck glanced at the headboard, then up at Eddie. “I suppose we have to leave something for another night.” </p><p>Eddie laughed, flopping down onto his side beside Buck. “You know,” Eddie said, tracing a finger along Buck’s jawline, “if you want that blow job, you might want to see if you can figure out how to get out of those pants while they’re tangled up in your shoes. </p><p>“Oh!” Buck twisted his body around ten different ways while Eddie heard two shoes drop before Buck’s pants were gone. “All gone!” </p><p>He looked like he’d achieved something remarkable, a smug smirk tinged with joy that Eddie somehow found absolutely irresistible. “Buck, there’s still a sock hanging halfway off your foot.”</p><p>Buck shook his foot and the sock flew off. “Okay, now it’s all gone.”</p><p>Eddie rolled his eyes. “What do you want, a prize for undressing?”</p><p>“No.” Buck pulled Eddie down into a kiss, the feel of Buck’s naked chest against his own sending shivers through Eddie. “I still seem to remember something about a blow job.”</p><p>“Figures, this you remember,” Eddie teased. He stopped for a few more kisses before tracing that line of Buck’s Adam’s apple again, this time with his tongue. Eddie took his time, despite Buck’s hand insistently pushing him toward his ultimate goal. Eddie had woken from too many dreams of this, wondered too many times what it would actually be like. </p><p>He wasn’t about to be rushed. </p><p>Every sharp hiss, every shiver, the way Buck had his bottom lip under his top teeth like he might not be able to hold back otherwise, all of it was proof that this wasn’t a dream. This was real. </p><p>And damned if Eddie was going to hurry through it.</p><p>By the time he made it to Buck’s navel, he knew Buck was ticklish, a fact he was filing away for later when it could prove very useful.  By the time he made it about an inch lower, though, the scent was so heady, the temptation of Buck’s cock so strong that Eddie couldn’t hold off another second.</p><p>The sharp, keening sound Buck made as Eddie’s lips slipped over Buck’s cock for the first time was going to be seared into Eddie’s brain for the rest of his life.  Buck’s hips pushed up hesitantly at first, then stronger as they found their rhythm, and Eddie thought maybe, just maybe, he might be ruined for anyone else.</p><p>“Fuck, Eddie, I’m gonna….” He pushed, but Eddie held firm, taking Buck in as deep as he could get until Buck surged up one last time and came down Eddie’s throat. </p><p>Eddie sat back on his knees, enjoying the view of Buck sprawled out on top of Eddie’s comforter, red and flushed, his whole body moving with every breath. Eddie wanted a picture of this to keep just to himself, but then he realized he didn’t need one.</p><p>Some images never leave you.</p><p>Buck drew in a ragged breath and let it out in a long sigh before opening his eyes, that crooked smile gazing up at Eddie with such affection it left a tightness in Eddie’s throat. “C’mere,” Buck said, patting a spot a little closer to his side. </p><p>Eddie shuffled up the bed and Buck reached out, hand sliding up and down Eddie’s cock a few times before Buck decided to lick his hand—and there was another image that was never leaving—before going back to work, stroking up and down Eddie’s cock. </p><p>“Next time,” Buck said, his voice raw, as if he’d been the one taking Eddie’s cock down his throat, “next time I’m not going to make it to the bed. Next time, I’m going to turn you around and fuck you into the door until you forget your name.”</p><p>Eddie gasped and came all over Buck’s hand, his hip and the comforter. </p><p>He fell onto his side, arm and leg managing to find their way over Buck’s body even before Eddie’s eyes opened again. When they did, Buck was looking far too pleased with himself, and Eddie had to say something to put them back on equal footing.</p><p>“Not if I get you pinned to the door first.”</p><p>“Tell you what, Eddie,” Buck said, leaning in for a kiss. “We can take turns.”</p><p>--<br/>
END</p>
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